IT'S HARD FOR me as a journalist, and as an American, to write this, but if Laura Ling and Euna Lee deliberately crossed into forbidden North Korea to grab some video and perhaps an interview, the U.S. shouldn't do much, overtly, to help them.

And we're not.

Even if they were kidnapped, the U.S. should not bow to extortion when North Korea - a saber-rattling, paranoid thugocracy run by a stunted loon with a bad haircut - tries to use them as bargaining chips.

I don't mean we should abandon them. There may be behind-the-scenes diplomatic ways to deal with Deranged Dear Leader Kim Jong Il, short of ransom or war.

The State Department is making "strong efforts" on the Americans' behalf, spokesman Darby Halladay told me, but she wouldn't define those efforts.

Maybe the quieter, the better. The less attention this gets, the less propaganda "value" the hostages have.

In the last similar - although far more serious - hostage case, the U.S. held out for 11 months.

I am talking about the USS Pueblo.

During the Vietnam War in January 1968, the North Koreans boarded and captured the U.S. naval vessel on the high seas. That's what we said.

The North Koreans said the spy ship, a lightly armed, World War II converted cargo ship, was captured in its waters.

One sailor was killed in the takeover, and the 82-man crew was held for 11 months, some tortured and all abused. They were released only after the U.S. "confessed" to being in North Korean waters, a statement instantly disavowed after the return of the crew. The Pueblo, still on active status, remains in North Korea's clutches to this very day.

The Society of Professional Journalists was "outraged" by the 12-year sentences dealt to Ling and Lee. SPJ President Dave Aeikens condemned the trial as a "sham" by a "hostile government," and he added: "North Korea will never be taken seriously on the world stage if it continues to stymie press freedom and act like an adolescent bully."

Aeikens said it is unclear if Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, had knowingly crossed the border.

North Korea says they confessed (so did the Pueblo crew, under duress) and claims to have video made by Ling and Lee entering North Korea.

If so, let's see it.

I asked Halladay if State knows whether such a tape had been released, but he couldn't comment because of "privacy concerns," meaning the victims haven't authorized State to talk. Since they can't talk with the U.S. (the U.S. and North Korea don't exchange ambassadors), this is an odd Catch-22.

If Ling and Lee did knowingly trespass, was it journalistically justified? I asked Andy Schotz, who heads SPJ's ethics committee. Without addressing specifics, the code says journalists "might use deception if there's no other way to get the story," he said.

If Ling and Lee trespassed, they knew the risks. If they didn't, they are pawns in an ongoing feud between the Land of Liberty and the Land of Famine.

What can the U.S. do to help Ling and Lee, who were brave, foolish or both?

The U.S. could ask China to intercede. China is North Korea's next-door neighbor and No. 1 ally and might help to earn global praise. Also, the journalists were working from China and are of Chinese descent.

Public protest in the West will be futile. North Korea is closeted and Dear Leader likes it like that. No Twitter revolution is coming to the North.

In no case should the U.S. bargain for them. No backing down on opposition to North Korea's nuclear weapons - no food, no oil, no money, no "humanitarian" supplies (that are snatched by the army and the elite).

It's painful, but our national interest is larger than the interest of two of our nationals - even if they're journalists.

E-mail stubyko@phillynews.com or call 215-854-5977. For recent columns:

http://go.philly.com/byko.